Remembering Bernie Casey...

For those who listened to the old iteration of the United States of Geekdom, you know that early on we talked about a film genre that was very prevalent during the 1970s.  That genre was Blaxploitation.  It is a very interesting genre as it features African Americans as the heroes of the stories and they were geared toward that kind of audience as well.  Many of them are very entertaining films and are unparalleled in terms of storytelling and filmmaking.  One of the many iconic actors to come out of this genre was Bernie Casey.

I first saw Mr. Casey as the tough talking head of the fraternity Lambda, Lambda, Lambda in the movie Revenge of the Nerds.  He had a presence in the film that essentially let you know he was not one to be messed with.  His character's lack of sense of humor led to some of the funnier bits in that movie, but it is his 11th hour scene at the end of the movie, small as it is, that makes the biggest impact.




Casey was also in another movie we talked about in the old episodes, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.  I was thrilled to see him in another movie, playing an authority figure.  As always, he was fantastic, and his take no crap attitude came in very handy in dealing with Bill S. Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan.




As I said, Mr. Casey is a former Blaxploitation actor.  He even lampooned himself in the Keenan Ivory Wayans film, "I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka!"  His character was so badass, he had his own band following him at all times just so he could have his theme music playing wherever he went.



He also appeared in a favorite of mine from the Blaxploitation films, Cleopatra Jones as Tamara Dobson's love interest, Reuben.



Bernie Casey had many, many other roles, and definitely worth checking out; but these are some of my favorites.  Our deepest condolences go out to Mr. Casey's family, friends and fellow fans.  Thank you Mr. Casey for some great films.